The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is well known for many inventors and entrepreneurs who studied or taught there, including Heinrich Hertz, Karl Friedrich Benz and the founders of SAP SE.

[18] In 1865, Grand Duke Friedrich I of Baden raised the school to the status of a Hochschule, an institution of higher education.

In 1885, it was declared a Technische Hochschule, or institute of technology, and in 1967, it became an Universität, a full university, which gave it the right to award regular doctorate degrees.

The name was inspired by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the leading technical university in the United States.

[20] In February 2008, the merger of the university and the research centre to form KIT was agreed by the state of Baden-Württemberg and Germany's federal government.

(Hector is the only founder of SAP who did not graduate from the University of Karlsruhe; he was given an honorary doctorate for his support of intellectually gifted children in 2003.)

With the decline of nuclear energy activities in Germany, Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe directed its work increasingly towards alternative areas of basic and applied sciences.

Campus Nord is the site of the main German national nuclear engineering research centre and the Institute for Transuranium Elements.

The school offers Master of Science programmes, certificates and individual transfer qualifications in close cooperation with industry.

It offers seven Master of Science programmes covering production, logistics, financial and risk management, information technology, renewable energy and mobility: The university offers a great range of education options with such possibilities as cross studies and work-study programs.

There is a substantial drop-out rate in some engineering courses due to the immense study required to meet the prerequisites.

Nowadays, it offers specialised qualifications in the fields of "Leadership and Entrepreneurship", "Media – Culture – Communication", "Internationalisation and Intercultural Decision-making and Responsibility", "Diversity Management", and "European Integration and Identity Studies", as well as the classical studium generale.

The Karlsruhe School of Optics and Photonics (KSOP)[30] was established in 2006 as a publicly funded project by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft under the German Universities Excellence Initiative.

It is also a partner in the EUROPHOTONICS consortium,[31] which provides scholarship for master's[32] and PhD degrees[33] under the European Commission's prestigious Erasmus Mundus cooperation and mobility program.

In January 2019 the cluster of excellence "3D Matter made to order" (3DMM2O), affiliated with both the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Heidelberg started to operate.

By uniting expertise across materials science, engineering, and physics, the cluster seeks to develop precise and versatile fabrication techniques for various applications, from biotechnology to electronics.

KIT operates several TCCON stations as part of an international collaborative effort to measure greenhouse gases globally.

KIT is partner of the science project for urban and autonomous freight logistics, efeuCampus in Bruchsal, which is funded by the state of Baden-Württemberg and the European Union.

[37] The Times Higher Education World University Rankings for 2024 listed KIT at a global position of 140, and 14th nationally within Germany.

In the 2011 performance-ranking of scientific papers, Karlsruhe ranked first in Germany and among the top 10 universities in Europe in engineering and natural sciences.

It is responsible for the university's IP connectivity and provides central services (Mail, Web, campus management) for students and employees.

It supplies students with 10 fully equipped computer rooms, one professional print office and a wireless network providing access to the whole campus area.

The combination of a special book security system and an automated issue desk makes it possible to use the 1000 workplaces anytime, day or night.

Current and contemporary literature is freely accessible in four specialised reading rooms, each providing cross-linked, modern and well-equipped study and work stations as well as printers, scanners and copy machines.